


Jon Snow joins the Gaang

by Copperhead4



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Crossover
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-03
Updated: 2018-04-03
Packaged: 2019-04-17 23:38:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 19,111
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14200131
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Copperhead4/pseuds/Copperhead4
Summary: Jon Snow and his dire wolf Ghost joins the Gaang at the southern air temple. See how he adapts to this new world.This story can also be found on FanFiction.net, where I also post my stories.





	1. The Arrival

Jon stood there in the darkness of the room staring at the statue of the man he had spoken too, one statue amongst many others.

He knew little of the room itself, most of it was lost to the darkness that enveloped the room but what he did know he had discovered a little while earlier when he had tried to find his way out.

When he had first arrived, where ever he was, he had quickly tried to find his way back to daylight. He was grateful for the torch he had with him or else he would not have been able to see at all. He held it in his left hand so that his right was free to draw his sword if need be. Ghost stayed close, content to walk next to him in what little light there was then go off into the darkness by himself. As Jon made his way through the room he found that it was filled with statues set in rows facing out from, what Jon could tell in this darkness, was the centre of the room.

From what he had seen of them it appeared that all the statues where different; all with different features, some men, some women and all dressed in different garb. It reminded Jon of the crypts at Winterfell with its hallways filled with the statues and tombs of dead lords and kings. That thought did not put him at ease, though it seemed unlikely that this was a crypt as there were no tombs to go with the statues.

Jon managed to reach the edge of the room without any kind of incident. The walls themselves where stone, thick and without seems or cracks. He pulled the glove from his right hand with his mouth as his left still held the torch and placed the glove through his belt. He ran his hand across the surface of the cold stone, trying to feel for something his eyes didn't see. He began to walk the edge of the room his hand still trailing along the wall trying to find some sort of door.

He quickly found it.

The door was huge as large as Winterfell's main gate. Wooden with metal hinges but it didn't seem to open from this side. Jon tried for half an hour or more trying to get it open as well as banging on the door and yelling so that someone on the other side might hear him. It was no use though, the door wouldn't move no matter what he tried and the door was either too thick for someone outside to hear him or there was no one there to hear his calls.

Even Ghost made some attempt to get the door to open, scratching and pushing against the door to try to move the massive, unmoving gateway. He remained silent though, just as he always had.

Once it became clear that the door would not open Jon made his way back to find the statue of the man he had spoken too. That is where he stood now, staring at the statue of the man he had spoken to, waiting for… something! For him to come back, to show him a way out, for an explanation about any of this!

The day had started much like he had come to expect at The Wall. Breaking his fast then going on to morning drills. It wasn't until later that any of this strangeness took place. He had been give assignment atop The Wall, standing watch. He'd brought Ghost up with him, preferring not to leave him below. Jon had stood their looking out beyond the wall for any sign of movement, Wildling or Ranger, with hope that he might see his uncle Benjen returning at long last. It hadn't been a bright day, the sky had been covered in a layer of steel grey clouds since Jon had woken, but it was late afternoon now and it was beginning to grow dark. Jon had rested his spear against the wall and begun lighting the torches that hung from the walls of the path behind him.

It was after he had done this that things suddenly became strange. In an instant and without warning an almighty gale of wind had roared up from the north side of the wall. The force of it had hit him pushing him backwards. Jon kept his balance but all the torches guttered out and he couldn't see, the air was a soup of snow and ice. Just above the scream of the wind he could hear the shouts of others call out to each other in in fear and disbelief at the ferocity and suddenness of the storm. The wind whipped around him, the bitter cold stinging his face punctuated by shards of ice striking the exposed skin. The wind was pushing him this way and that each moment seem to change direction, he struggled to keep his footing so he knelt down and held on to Ghost as fearful of him going over the edge as was for himself.

A short, sharp sudden push came from behind him as if he'd been kicked in the back. He stumbled forward the wind and the slipperiness of the ice moving him further than he should of. To close to the edge. Sudden sickness rose in his stomach as he felt himself falling. He gripped onto to Ghost as tight as he could in some vain hope of saving himself but Ghost had slipped when Jon had and they were both falling together. Jon squeezed his eyes shut and pulled Ghost close.

_I won't scream_ Jon thought and for a hand full of heartbeats he was falling.

And then he wasn't.

Quickly, far too quickly than Jon would have thought falling from The Wall would take, he landed but not with a thud or a smack or any other sound that you would expect a breaking body to make but with a splash. Jon flung his eyes open and found himself in shallow water. In one sharp motion he pushed himself up out of the water to stand. Ghost was there too, shaking the water from his fur.

Jon couldn't understand it, how he had survived? He had been falling, even if it hadn't been the entire way he had been falling far enough for it to at least hurt. But it hadn't felt that way when he had landed. It had hurt like he had just tripped not like he had fallen from any kind of height. In that moment however Jon stopped questioning the matter of his survival as another question soon dawned on him.

_Where am I?_ Jon started to take notice of his surroundings and realized that nothing was right. Gone where the pines, the oaks and in their place stood new trees with vast twisting masses of intertwined roots and branches. The snow was gone to and was replace by murky brown water, as it had all melted away but the biggest change was the wall. It was gone! There was nothing!

Jon had never seen anything like this place before but he did think it reminded him about how other had described The Neck.

Whatever thoughts he was having he was shook from them by a voice behind him.

"I know that you are confused." Jon turned to face the man that the voice belonged to and found himself looking at a man in late life, seventy or more, but still seemed to have some strength for his age. He dressed in long red robes, simple but finely made. His bone white hair, the same colour of his beard, was held in place at the back of his head by a ornate golden pin.

_I should have heard him._ Jon glanced down at where the man in red stood. In the middle of the shallow pool Jon had landed in. _I should have heard him as he walked through the water._

"There is much you needed to know." The man in red continued. "But I am afraid there is not much time. The force that brought you here was random, an occurrence brought about by imbalance in my world and in yours. There has never been anything like it before."

Jon had no idea what this strange man was talking about, he tried to interrupt with questions. "I was falling. Where am I? Who are…" The man in red spoke over him cutting him off.

"I did not seek to bring you here but I believe that you may be able to help." His voice took on a more apologetic tone. "I'm sorry. There is no way for me to send you back to where you came from but I can offer you a way to move forward." Jon had more question then he had a moment ago but he was given no time to ask them.

"From what I have seen of you, you are loyal, dutiful and honourable. I am sending you to meet a boy, Aang, he is at the start of his own journey. It is a difficult one and he will be in need of allies. Allies such as you." The man in red paused a moment and Jon chose to ask the question that was at the front of his mind.

"Why are you telling me all this? What are you asking of me?" He was almost pleading with the man in red, the situation begging to affect him.

The man in red moved closer to Jon with a ghostly glide halting just outside of arms reach. "You have spent a long time wondering who you are and what you can be." The man in red reached down into the murky water around their feet and pulled something from the water. It was a torch, the same as the one Jon had been carrying back on The Wall, it must have been blown over with him. The man in red held the torch in his right hand. "You have often questioned what your destiny was." He offered it to Jon. "Now I am offering you a different one." Jon hesitated, unsure that he should. The man in red gave a nod of encouragement and with some uncertainty Jon took it with his left.

The darkness swarmed over him in an instant. Sudden panic gripped his heart, the torch crackled into life. Jon was somewhere else now and only a statue of the man in red remained.

That is how Jon had come to be standing in the darkness of some strange place full of uncertainties and fears. He had been there for at least an hour now, or near as makes no difference. His mind a storm of questions. Where he was? How he had gotten here? Who was the man in red? What had he been speaking when he talked about worlds and destinies?

Jon found himself think if it was possible to get back to The Wall. It had not been what he thought it was but he had some friends there now. He had been a few days from swearing his vows so he was no deserter but he still felt he should return. _I offer you a different one. That's what he said. What kind of destiny was it to stand in the dark?_ Jon had found no way out and no boys named Aang. He wanted this man in red to return and offer some explanation beyond talk of destiny but all he had been left with was a statue in his likeness.

_Perhaps it's not a statue_ Jon thought. _Perhaps its him turned to stone. When you can go from the top of The Wall to a swamp to a deep dark who-knows-where what's one man turning to stone?_

Thoughts like this weren't helping. He had no way out, the torch would die at some point and he had no food for himself or Ghost. Ghost lay at Jon's feet, head resting on his front paws having made no move to go off into the shadows by himself at any point since they had arrived.

_At least I'm not alone._ That gave Jon some small measure of comfort, enough to give him a small sad smile. He bent down to scratch Ghost's ear.

**THUD**

Both Jon and Ghost turned to the source of the noise, Ghost was standing in an instant ears pricked up and staring into the darkness in the direction of the door. Jon stood as well. No other sounds came for a moment. Jon made a slow steady pace towards the door, Ghost following at his side.

They were half way there when a new sound appeared. He stopped. The faint rush of wind could be heard, softened to a whisper by the thick door. In the rush of wind Jon could hear other sounds, three times he heard the low call of a horn. Slowly the door began to open with a monstrous creak. Light flooded in, shielding his eyes from the sudden brightness Jon saw in the light the silhouettes of three people. When the door had stopped moving and lay completely open the middle of the three new people called out to the room and moved to enter.

"Hello. Anyone home?"


	2. The Meeting

The first to enter was a boy. A few years younger than Jon. He wore long, yellow shirt and breeches with an orange shawl across his shoulders. His head was shaved clean with a large, blue arrow tattoo in place of hair.

The boy ran towards him in leaps and bounds, a smile across his face, and slid to a halt in front of Jon. He caught sight of Ghost then, recoiling a little, but seemed to ease when Ghost made no move to harm him.

Jon spoke cautiously. "Are you Aang?" The young boy's eyes fixed on Jon. Another huge smile spread across his face.

"That's me! I'm Aang! So you're going to help me become the Avatar?" He looked Jon up and down. "I kind of thought you'd be older."

Jon wasn't sure what an Avatar was but the old man had told him that the boy would need allies, so perhaps he could help.

Another boy, who had entered the room behind Aang, now walked forward. He was older, perhaps of age with Jon. He had darker skin than Aang and wore strange, thick, blue furs trimmed with white. His dark brown hair was shaved short on the sides with the rest tied of into a short ponytail. He walked up to stand by Aang's side. "Ok, just slow down. Just because he knows your name doesn't mean we should just trust him."

"Sokka." The girl spoke now. She was dressed in a similar manger to the other boy, and shared the same dark skin. Her hair was dark brown too, pulled into a neat braid at the back of her head and two loop on either side of her head. Her face was round and pretty with bright blue eyes. "Sorry about that. My brother can have a hard time trusting new people." Jon thought that to be quite wise, having no idea where he was or whom they were. The girl continued. "You know who Aang is, I'm Katara and the paranoid one is my brother Sokka."

The other boy, Sokka, crossed his arms with a sigh. "All I'm saying is this whole thing is a little strange." He turned to look at Jon. "I mean why where you waiting in the locked room, in the middle of an abandoned air temple **?** Why not just wait outside?" He gave a cautious glace at Ghost. "With your pet wolf." Again Jon was uncertain. He did not know what an Air Temple was, so that did little to explain where he was.

"I don't know how I came to be here. I was brought here by some man I did not know. He told me of Aang, said he would need allies and then left me here." It was the truthful answer, though he left out the detail of the Wall, and the swamp he had landed in, for he did not know how to begin to explain that. Even leaving out those details it was still a strange tale and Jon could tell that they thought the same.

"So, who was the man who left you here? Do you know his name?" Katara took a step closer.

In answer to the question Jon turned and pointed to the statue of the man. "Him."

Sokka leaned to the side to look around Jon. "The statue? Really?"

"I think he means whoever the statue is of, Sokka." The girl, Katara said.

_Or else it's him turned to stone._ Jon thought again, but he kept that to himself. He did not wished to sound more a fool than he already did. It was then he noticed Aang, staring right past him into the eyes of the statue. Katara noticed too and shook him gently by the shoulder. "Aang, snap out of it!"

The boy woke from his daze.

"Who is that?" She asked no one in particular but Aang gave an answer.

"That's Avatar Roku, the Avatar before me."

"Of course!" The girl cried out. She quickly looked to all the other statues. "They're Avatars. All these people are your past lives Aang."

And in that moment Jon was lost again. "Past lives?" They turned their attention back to Jon. Having heard the confusion in his voice the girl tried to explain.

"When the Avatar dies, they're reincarnated into the next the next nation in the cycle. See the pattern? Air, water, earth and fire." Before Jon could ask another question, Sokka asked one of him.

"So how can one of Aang's past lives leave you here? Them being dead and all?" The boy Sokka was clearly more sceptical of his story than he had been before and Jon could not think of an answer for him. He must have had the confusion written across his face, for both Katara and Aang had a look of worry on theirs.

"Are you okay?" Katara asked.

Jon looked the bald headed boy in the eye. "I'm certain that this 'Roku' is the one who left me here, told me of you and now you all say that you are one in the same." Frustration was beginning to work its way into his voice. He'd been subjected to one madness after the other and he was sick of it. "Should you not remember me?"

Aang shifted on his feet and scratched the back of his head. "Um, I'm not sure that's how it works."

The girl stepped between them. "Okay, you're getting upset let's just to calm down and figure out what's going on."

Sokka through up his hands in frustration. "This couldn't get any weirder."

Just then a shadow was thrown across the floor from the doorway. The three of them all dove behind the nearest statues. Jon hesitated a moment, and was then dragged by the arm behind one of the statues by Sokka.

A look of fear was on all their faces and then suddenly it struck him. They were under attack.

His hand moved to his sword.

Sokka's voice was a harsh whisper. "Firebender. Nobody make a sound." Jon wished to ask what a firebender was but kept his silence.

The girl however did not. "You're making a sound!" The two others quickly shushed her.

Ghost was partly hidden in the shadow of the statues, his eyes fixed on whoever had cast the shadow. _They'll see Ghost first._ Jon began to draw the sword from it sheath. Only the slightest sound as he began to draw it free.

Sokka readied his own weapon. The shadow moved closer. Ghost sunk closer to the floor.

"That firebender won't know what hit 'em" Sokka jumped out from hiding with his club at the ready and Jon followed quickly with his sword. However he faced a far less intimidating foe than he had expected.

It was some small creature. It looked something like the monkeys that Jon had heard lived in Essos and other far of lands. Its large ears flopped down as it stared at the people in front of it. Aang and Katara both leaned out from behind their own statue to look at the intruder. Jon looked back to Ghost who was still crouched and staring at the creature. Jon realised he yet to feed Ghost. _He was not fearful of attackers, just hungry._ Jon moved to Ghost, resting his hand on the back of the wolf's neck. A silent signal for him not to give chase to the creature.

In that same moment Aang let out a cry of "Lemur!"

Sokka however seemed to share Ghosts thought. "Dinner…" His mouth watering.

"Don't listen to him! You're going to be my new pet." Aang assured the small creature.

"Not if I get him first!" Sokka countered. Both of them lunged forward reaching for the lemur but they tripped over one another and fell to the floor. The lemur bristled like a cat, gave a screech and fled. The two boys jumped to their feet and gave chase. Ghost followed his command and stayed at Jon's side, only licking his lips at the thought of his lost dinner.

Food however, was far from Jon's own mind. Having seemed to lose interest in their conversation, a wave of anger had suddenly washed over Jon as he watched the two boys charge out of the room. None of this had made much sense to him and ever answer he got raised more question. _The only ones that can help me would rather chase some bloody beast._

Jon thrust his sword back into its sheath with a great sigh of frustration.

"Are you okay?" A small voice to his left asked.

Jon turned. Katara was still here. She was waiting for his answer, with what seemed like genuine concern. He gave her the truth. "No, my lady, I'm not."

A slight smile played across her lips for a moment. "I think anyone would be upset about being left alone in here but we're here now, we can help."

Jon rested both hands on the hilt of his sword. "That is not my only worry, my lady."

She gave an awkward laugh. "You don't have to keep calling me 'my lady'. You can just use my name." Katara then looked to him with embarrassment. "I'm so sorry, we forgot to ask your name. I guess we got a little carried away."

"No apologies are needed my-Katara." Jon caught himself but the girl smirked at his mistake. "Jon Snow." He told her. If she had any thoughts about him being a bastard she hid it well. Instead she looked to Ghost.

"And who's this?"

"He's named Ghost, he's a direwolf."

She moved to pet Ghost but stopped herself. "Is he safe?"

"As long as I'm here." She gently stroked the top of Ghost's head. The wolf seemed to appreciate it, leaning into her with a small wag of his tale. When she was done she looked back to Jon.

"I'm just wondering. How don't you know what the Avatar is? I mean I know it's been a hundred years but with all the legends and stories, how have you never heard of them?" She questioned.

"We had no stories of the Avatar, where I am from." Jon had heard stories of knights and kings. Dragons and giants. Children of the forest and the dreaded others but none of any Avatar.

"Where are you from?"

"The North." He said simply.

That seemed to confuse her. "You're from the northern water tribe?"

"The North. I came from Winterfell, travelled to The Wall and now I am here." That did not seem to help her. He tried again. "The seven kingdoms."

"I've never heard of any of those places. I don't think there is anywhere in the world called the 'seven kingdoms'." Then he remembered what Roku had said _imbalance in my world and in yours._

"A different world?" Jon's voice was just above a whisper.

"What did you say?" Katara asked.

"This is a different world!" He told her. _No seven kingdoms, no Wall._

"What? What do you mean? Just explain." She demanded sternly And so he did. From his fall to where he landed, to Roku and all he had said. When he was done, she seemed as shook as he felt.

"There are other world besides this one and the spirit world?" Then she smiled. "That's incredible! You're from another world! You physically went into the spirit world!"

She went to speak again but all of a sudden a light appeared behind them. The stone eyes of Avatar Roku around them began to shine with bright blue light. _He is coming back._ Jon thought for a moment but then light began to shine in the eyes of the statue that stood next to Roku. Then another and another. He did not know what was happening but it seemed Katara did.

"Aang!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Your own opinions and ideas for the story are welcome. Let me know what you think. Anything that needs improving and if everybody seems in character.
> 
> Thanks for reading


	3. A New World

Jon followed quickly as Katara ran from the room. It was his first time seeing this new world beyond the darkness of the inner sanctum but as of yet he had not seen much. The corridor that lead from the inner sanctum was long and windowless. Its walls plain.

Not that he had much time to look as he sprinted through them to keep the girl in sight. Ghost had followed as well but where Jon and Katara moved as fast as they could the direwolf had not broken out of easy trot and yet still kept pace with the frantic people.

The corridor ended in a small courtyard, patches of snow doting the stone ground. Katara slowed, so as not to fall, but remained in just as much of a hurry. She made her way to a flight of stair, when Jon caught up to her. "What's happening?"

"I don't know. I think something's wrong with Aang." She kept going down the stairs. Jon followed, taking in the rest of the temple as went down the stairs.

The temple was built at the top of a mountain, surrounded by other peeks and shrouded in clouds. Jon was amazed but he had little time to appreciate it as he followed Katara. As they came to the end of the stairs Jon realized something else. _It's empty._ So far on their mad dash, Jon had seen no other people. They ran across other yard that over looked other building. _No lights, no sounds._ Even if the cold had driven some people into their homes there would still be some sign.

It was not just that it was empty, it seemed to have been this way for some time. The floors where dirty, the few plants grew in the snow grew wild and unkempt. No one had been hear for a long time.

Then there was a sound but not the sound of people. Gales of wind, the sounds of a storm. This was another mystery, though the skies where grey they were calm enough, and Jon felt no more than a breeze on his skin. There was no storm in sight but he could hear it. Katara heard it too and ran in the direction that it was coming from.

It grew louder until they saw him.

Standing amongst the rubble of a crumbling building was Aang but not as Jon had seen him before. The joyful boy was gone and in his place was something else. His eyes and tattoos glowed as wind surged around him, anger written across his face.

Sokka was there too, shielding himself behind a rock at the edge of the ruin. Katara and Jon struggled against the wind to get to him while Ghost stayed back. _Is this the same as what happened atop the wall?_ Jon thought.

"What happened?" Katara asked Sokka, yelling against the wind.

"He found out firebenders killed Gyatso." Sokka yelled back. _That is why this place is empty._ Jon thought. _Firebenders put the place to the sword._ Jon looked at Sokka. _It's why he expected to fight one in the temple._

"Oh no, it's his avatar spirit! He must have triggered it! I'm gonna try and calm him down." She struggled over the rubble. Sokka hanged onto the rubble, trying not to get blown away. "Well, do it before he blows us off the mountain!"

Katara walked forward through the maelstrom, Aang rising from the floor into the air. When she could go no further she clung to another rock on the ground. Then she called to Aang, shouting calmly.

"Aang, I know you're upset and I know how hard it is to lose the people you love. I went through the same thing when I lost my mom. Monk Gyatso and the other airbenders may be gone, but you still have a family. Sokka and I, we're your family now."

And then the winds slowed and Aang began to descend to the floor, eyes and arrow still glowing. When his feet touched the ground the wind died away, Katara and Sokka moving to be by his side. Jon stayed back.

Sokka added his own reassurance. "Katara and I aren't going to let anything happen to you. Promise." He said gently. Katara reached out and took Aang's hand in her own. In an instant the glow was gone. Aang fell into Katara's arms in exhaustion. Whatever he had been a moment ago had passed and in its place was a frightened boy. Katara held him as she kneeled on the ground.

The experience had drained him but he still made an apology. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay. It wasn't your fault." Katara told him.

"But you were right. And if firebenders found this temple that means they found the other ones, too. I really am the last airbender." The despair was plain in his voice. Katara held him a little tighter and Sokka placed a comforting hand on his shoulder and still Jon stayed back. He was still the stranger, unsure of what to say. Jon looked down at his own hand and saw that it gripped the hilt of his sword. The weapon had been drawn so that the blade had only just begun to show. _He's just a child._ Jon thought as he pushed the blade back.

They stayed like that for a moment or two. Katara glancing up at Jon. "Aang, there's something we need to talk to you about." They all turned to look at Jon.

So he told his story again, from when he fell from the wall to when they had found him. It was a difficult story to swallow but Katara supported him, Aang at least seemed ready to believe him and Sokka was sceptical, even suggesting that Jon was mad but Jon had done nothing to actually hurt any of them so he had little reason to dislike him. When he was done Aang was the first to speak. "So you're from an entirely different world?" Jon gave a nod. "Yes. I believe so."

Katara next. "Roku may be the one to help you become the Avatar, Aang, but Jon was sent to help us on the journey."

Jon raised his voice to draw their attention. "A moment please." They all looked to him. "Roku sent me here to help you but I'm not certain if I should." They were taken back by that. "But you just said you were sent to help. Why wouldn't you come with us?" Katara asked.

Jon had not chosen to come to this new world, nor had Roku chosen to bring him here. It had been an accident and Roku had sent him to where he though Jon would be the most useful. He was lost in this new world but Jon would decide for himself what he did in it. "I know nothing of you." He told them simply. "Or anything about this world."

Aang looked a little disappointed in Jon's reluctant to go with them. "We'll try and explain everything to you and then you can decide if you want to come with use."

Jon nodded in agreement.

"I'm gonna start packing everything up, you two can try and explain the **world** to this guy." And with that Sokka left. Aang and Katara remained behind with Jon, thoughtful looks on their faces.

"Okay, um. Where should we start?" Katara asked Aang.

"Well, this is the Southern Air Temple." Aang gestured with arms wide open at the buildings around them. He looked to Jon hopeful. Jon just stood, waiting for more. "And there are three others. North, East and West. One for each direction of the wind." After that Aang seemed unsure of what to say next. "What of other lands? Kingdom and such?" Jon decided he would ask his own questions, so as to help them along.

"Oh, well there's the Earth Kingdom, the Fire Nation and the two Water Tribes. One in the north, one in the south. Katara and Sokka are from the southern tribe." _The four elements._ Jon thought. Then it seemed Aang had an idea of his own. "We have a map, I'll show you. Wait here." And with that the boy took off. The wind seemed to push him forward at an unnatural speed. In a moment he was gone, leaving Jon, Ghost and Katara alone. "How does he do that?" Jon asked.

"Air bending." Katara said simply before remembering who she was speaking to. "Bending is the ability to control the elements. You're born with it and it's a part of you, part of who you are. Not everyone can do it though. Most benders can only bend one of the four elements, earth, water, fire or air but Aang's the Avatar so he can master all four elements." Jon all most laughed. Maester Luwin had told Jon and the rest of Lord Stark's children that there was no magic in the world, now here Jon was. In a different world where magic was quite common.

"So this is a world of magic then?"

"It's not magic, it's bending." Katara growled, clearly cross at Jon's mistake. Jon asked the question he had been wondering for a while. "Why would you need my help? Why Roku send me to help you?"

Katara's face darkened. "Because of the war." She said in a flat voice. Katara took a deep breath to steady herself before beginning.

"Long ago, the four nations lived together in harmony. Then, everything changed when the Fire Nation attacked. Only the Avatar, master of all four elements, could stop them, but when the world needed him most, he vanished. A hundred years passed and my brother and I discovered the new Avatar, an airbender named Aang. And although his airbending skills are great, he has a lot to learn before he's ready to save anyone. But I believe Aang can save the world."

Jon was awestruck. _A war to save the world._ Jon had never seen battle himself, but he had been taught his histories. He knew that most wars where fought to gain power or land, to avenge some injustice or slight. The only war he could think of that was akin to what he had just been told was the war for the dawn. An ancient story from the days of the first men, told to him as a child by Old Nan.

Now here he was. Taken from his home and asked to fight a war for a world that wasn't his. He wondered for a moment if it was true. If they truly fought to save the world but then he realized after everything he had seen today, would he doubt that as true. All of a sudden the words passed his lips.

"I will help you."

Katara clearly wasn't ready for him to accept so quickly. "But you still don't know that much. You don't even know where we're going."

"I know enough." Jon had been willing to join the Night's watch to serve the greater good, to protect the realms of men and he was willing to do that now, for this world.

They meet up with Aang on his way back from getting the map for Jon. They were walking to the other side of the temple when they met. With Jon having already agreeing to join them Katara had decided to head back to 'Appa' as she called it. Katara told Aang of Jon's decision. The bald headed boy seemed truly glad that Jon had decided to travel with them. They continued on together, as they walked Aang showed Jon the map he'd found. It was further proof that Jon was a world away from life he'd known. It bore no similarities to the maps Jon had seen before. Aang spent every moment of their walk busily point at different locations on the map. "This is where we are and over here is the northern Air Temple. That's the city Omashu. There's cool stuff all over the world, I can't wait to show you all of it."

_He has to fight a war and he wants to go sightseeing?_ Jon thought as Aang held the map open for him to look. _Katara was right, he has much to learn._

They walked down a dirt path to one of the lower levels at the edge of the temple. Sokka was there waiting. He stood, one arm filled with nuts, berries and fruit, while he used his free hand to greedily stuff them into his mouth. The lemur from earlier was there as well sitting at Sokka's feet.

Jon spared them a quick glance as his focus was stolen by the sight of the other creature. A huge mass of white fur supported by six legs as thick as tree trunks. Large black horns erupted from its head, while its tale was wide and flat. Light brown fur ran across its back to form an arrow on its head.

He assumed that this was Appa.

Aang looked at Sokka and the lemur. "Looks like you made a new friend, Sokka."

"Can't talk. Must eat." Sokka answered, mouth still crammed with food.

The lemur scurried over to Aang and climbed up his chest to perch on his head. "Hey little guy." Aang scratched the creature behind the ear. "You, me and Appa. We're all that's left of this place. We have to stick together." He spoke with a hint of sadness. The lemur jumped down to perch on Aang's arm. "Katara, Sokka say hello to the newest member of our family." He declared proudly.

"What are you going to name him?" Katara asked. Suddenly the lemur reached out and snatched a fruit from Sokka's hand and began eating it.

"Momo" Aang replied. Katara and Aang began to laugh while Sokka still poised to take a bite out of the fruit. He took notice of Jon looking at him and composed himself. "So, crazy wolf boy is coming with us?"

"Aye, I am." He told him.

"Appa, Momo this is Jon. He's going to be coming with us." As he spoke Ghost came trotting up behind them to stand next to Jon. The lemur let out a screech while Appa gave a low troubled grown. Aang tried to sooth them. "It's okay, he won't eat you Momo."

"I'm more worried about it eating us." Sokka said.

"Ghost will do no harm while I'm here." Jon assured them. They seemed hesitant but said nothing. Instead they began to climb aboard Appa. Aang leaping up to seat on the creatures head, taking hold of the reigns tied around the horns. While Katara and Sokka climbed up the tale to sit in the saddle that rested on Appa's back. Jon followed them, clumsily, worried that his footsteps or gripping of his fur may cause the creature to throw him off. It didn't, so Jon sat down at the side of the saddle. Katara gave Jon a puzzled look. "You should probably bring Ghost on as well."

Jon looked at her strangely. He may be able to stop Ghost from eating Momo and he posed no threat to Appa, not while he was still growing at least but Jon knew that the scent of Ghost alone was enough to spook other animal. As he'd seen with dogs and horses.

Jon had thought it would be best that Ghost follow at a distance. "Are you certain?" Jon asked. They all told him yes so Jon helped bring Ghost up Appa's tale. The dire wolf's climb was clumsier than Jon's and Appa made more noise as well. Jon pulled Ghost into the saddle.

Jon sat down again while Ghost stood, sniffing at the saddle. Sokka crouched in one corner, as far from Ghost as he could get. "That is a big wolf."

"He's a direwolf." Jon told them. "They grow larger than normal wolves and Ghost is still growing."

Appa gave another low grown and Aang patted his head. "It's okay Appa. I'm sure you and Ghost will be friends in no time."

"And what sought of animal is Appa?" Jon asked in curiosity. He'd never seen anything like him before. This new world was truly strange to him and he'd barely seen any of it. "Appa's my flying bison." Aang told him. Jon had never heard of bison before but it was the word before that that surprised him. "Beg your pardon, my lord?"

"Yeah, you heard him right." Sokka said with a smile across his face. Aang looked back at them all. "First time fliers, hold on tight." He turned back and snapped the reigns. "Appa, yip yip!"

The creature suddenly lurched forward. Jon took tight grip of the edge of the saddle. Ghost lost his balance and fell sideways, crashing into Jon. The sudden weight knocked the wind out of him. Jon started coughing but then he looked over his shoulder, over the edge of the saddle. "We're flying!" He said breathlessly, partly from the shock and partly from Ghost falling on him. Ghost remained lying down, his weight resting on Jon's legs.

The surprise was plain on Jon's face as Aang, Katara and Sokka gave a slight chuckle. All the while Appa flew on. Jon looked out into the horizon. Out into a new world.


	4. The Ambush

"You are quite certain of this?" The Fire Lord asked. He sat on his throne, sitting above all others, looking down on the High Sage that sat kneeling before him. His face was cloaked in shadow hiding his true appearance from any one that looked at him. Bhaskar had served as High Sage for a number of years now but very few times had he been called before the Fire lord to offer insight. He had certainly come to the palace a few times during his service for certain holidays or when tradition decreed it but never to offer wisdom or assist the Fire Lord in spiritual matters as Fire Sages of the past had. To be exact, no High Sage had served in that manger since the time before Fire Lord Sozin.

"Yes, Fire Lord. We have received letters from across the nation as well as from the colonies." Bhaskar explained. "We believe that only the Avatar could cause such a reaction at the temples. The Avatar has returned." The same thing had happened where ever there was a statue of a past Avatar. Bhaskar had seen it him for himself while retrieving scrolls from the Dragonebone catacombs. The statues eyes had begun to shine, signalling to the world the return of the Avatar.

Though he could not see it, Bhaskar was certain the Fire Lord was smiling. "I will send word to my Generals to be on the lookout for any sign of the Avatar. Now that he has revealed himself I will end what my grandfather began. I will capture the Avatar and finish this war!" The Fire Lord declared. Bhaskar wondered whether or not he should mention Prince Zuko. The banished prince had been gone for nearly three years now on an endless search to find the Avatar, it being his only way home. If the Fire Lord wish to allow Zuko a chance to redeem himself, as tradition and curtesy demanded, he should allow for some time to pass to give his disgraced son a chance to capture the Avatar before sending word to his generals.

Bhaskar decided to say nothing however. There was little chance of Zuko capturing the Avatar in any case, it being well know he was a weak firebender and less than skilled in other subjects as well. From what Bhaskar had seen Azula proved to be shaping up to be a far better successor. Allowing the generals to capture the Avatar first was for the best, it would seem.

The Fire Lord signalled for the High Sage to leave but Bhaskar did not move.

"Excuse me for taking up more of your precious time, Fire Lord, but there was another matter I need to inform you about." He spoke quickly.

"Oh?" The Fire Lord said simply. "And what is that?"

"Around the same time as the Avatar revealing himself, many of the Fire Sages began to notice something… strange." The Fire Lord said nothing so the High Sage continued.

"There seems to be something disturbing the spirit world. There are many reports of rouge, angry spirits in the Fire Nation itself and the Earth Kingdom!" Bhaskar tried to convey his worry to the Fire Lord as best he could but he was unsure that he was getting through to him. "There seems to be no way to calm them. We've tried..."

"Enough!" Declared the Fire Lord. His patience having worn thin. "Is it possible that it is the Avatar's doing?"

"Um, No. There is…."

"Could this allow you any way to find the Avatar?"

"No, I believe that…."

"Let me remind you that dealing with the trivialities of the spirit world is something intrusted to your order." The Fire Lord growled at him. "And that wasting my time with such pointless matters will incur a severe punishment. Now if you are incapable of dealing with some temperamental spirits, I will find someone better suited to the job." When he was finished they sat in silence for a moment. "Get out of my sight." The Fire Lord commanded. Bhaskar gave a bow, spoke an apology and hurried from the room. He returned to his temple quickly to search for some way to appease the angry spirits as the Fire Lord had instructed. He had to wonder though. What had disturbed them so?

* * *

It had been a few days since they had left the Air Temple behind them and in that time Jon had discovered a few things about this new world he found himself in. He had also discovered something about himself. He enjoyed flying.

To watch the land roll past beneath him, to look upon the world from high above, to feel of the wind on his face, all these things Jon had grown quickly fond of. This was one of the reasons that Jon felt disheartened as Appa drifted down to land on a beach.

Jon climbed down from the saddle to stand on the beach. Patches of snow where dotted here and there, with a cold wind blowing in from the bay. Further from the shore where steep hills and bare trees. Aang had insisted they stop here but from what Jon saw he couldn't tell why. Ghost clumsily walked down Appa's tail before wandering of into the tree. Jon knew he would not wander far, so did not worry for him.

Sokka was the last to climb down from Appa's back. "We just made a pit stop yesterday. Shouldn't we get a little more flying done before we camp out?"

"He's right. At this rate we won't get to the North Pole until spring." Katara added. Jon agreed with them both. They had told Jon of their destination the first night they had camped together. The Northern Water Tribe, where they would find a Waterbending master to teach Aang as well as Katara. Water was only the second of the four elements Aang must learn as the Avatar and Jon thought it best that they made haste.

Aang however seemed to disagree, paying little attention to them. Instead looking out across the water, his hand shielding the sun from his eyes. "But Appa's tired already, aren't you boy?" He waited a moment for the bison to do something. When nothing happened he nudged the beast with his elbow. "I said, aren't you boy?" And with that Appa yawned.

Jon knew the yawn wasn't real, though he did wonder how and why Aang had trained Appa to do so. "We let Appa rest awhile." Jon said, looking out into the bay, trying to find what Aang had been looking for. "Once he's rested we'll head north-east until we find the coast, then we'll follow it north."

Aang gave no answer, instead he pointed out something in the water. "LOOK!" A giant fish erupted from the water before crashing back down. "That's why we're here..." He said as he rid himself of everything but his smallclothes. "Elephant koi. And I'm going to ride it. Katara, you've gotta watch me!" He charged forward and leapt into the water before leaping back out again with a cry of, "COLD!"

That did not stop him though as he continued to swim out into the bay. He dove down below the surface disappearing from view for a moment before appearing again, riding on the back of the giant fish, hands grasping it dorsal fin. It was an impressive site, Jon had to admit but he knew they should still be heading north.

Jon knew that Aang was still just a boy, two years younger than Jon himself, but from what they had told him of the duties of the Avatar, told him of the war, he thought Aang should be taking it more seriously.

Katara stood next to Jon, cheering and waving at Aang as he rode on the fishes back. "He looks pretty good out there."

Sokka kept a disinterested look on his face, his arms crossed. "Are you kidding? The fish is doing all the work." It was then Katara noticed that Appa had wondered off.

"No, Appa! Don't eat that!" She yelled at the bison as he tried to chew the leaves of a thorny bush. Jon followed her to help before they were both drawn to the beach with a panicked yell from Sokka.

"There's something in the water!"

They both sprinted back to Sokka's side. "What's wrong?" Katara asked.

"Aang's in trouble." Sokka said simply before yell at the boy. "Aang!"

Jon and Katara joined in. Jon cupped his hands round his mouth to try and get Aang to hear. Katara and Sokka where jumping and waving their arms to get Aang's attention. The boy had saw them but all he did was wave back, unknowing of the danger he was in.

All of a sudden a shadow from beneath the water catches the fish Aang was riding, sending the boy tumbling forward into the water as the fish is dragged down. For a moment Aang is gone from sight until his head appears above water. Then something else rose from the water. A huge fin taller than a ships mast appeared behind Aang. He turned to see what was behind him. He screamed, leapt to the surface of the water and started running back to shore in terror. The enormous fin turned to follow him, chasing him towards the shore.

Luckily, Aang is faster. He stays ahead of the creature, making it back to shore but moving too fast to stop. He crashes into Sokka sending them both tumbling across the beach towards the tree line.

Jon and Katara run to them both. Aang is already on his feet putting his cloths back on, while Sokka sits resting against a tree rubbing a lump on his head.

"Are you both alright?" Jon asks offering a hand to Sokka.

"I'm okay." Aang says breathlessly.

"You mean apart from being knocked across a beach and crashing into a tree?" Sokka says as Jon helps him to his feet. "Yeah, I'm fine."

As soon as he knows there both alright Jon's worry starts to mix with anger. "You are not to do something like that again." He tells Aang sternly.

Aang is dismayed by that and tries to argue. "But there are these wild, red camelephants…."

"No, unless you can put a saddle on it you are not to ride it!"

Aang looked down at his feet sheepishly. There quiet for a moment until Sokka interrupts. "Well technically you can put a saddle on a camelephant." Jon gives him a questioning look. Sokka just shrugs his shoulders. "What? You can."

Katara steps in to calm them down. "Look, we're all okay maybe we should get going?"

Jon nod in agreement. Aang nods as well, clearly upset at getting told of by the older boy. Jon cannot help but feel a little guilty.

"Let's not stick around then." Sokka says wiping his hands together. "Time to hit the road."

Suddenly something leaps down from the trees and surrounds them. Four people garbed in green and black. The four strangers attacked them from behind. Sokka tried to draw his weapon but was pulled back off his feet before he could.

In the moment Jon remembers what Ser Rodrik taught him. He steps away as he draws his weapon, to distance himself from his foe and so he can face him. His enemy moves to follow him. Jon only having his sword half way drawn from the scabbard, turns his body so as to block the strike with the steel of his blade. That gives him enough time to draw the rest free as the enemy prepare another strike.

Aang and Katara are down as well. It's four against one and Jon has his back to three of them. _How can I win this?_ He thrusts his sword at the one in front of him, to force them back, so he has room to move. Then he notices the face, covered in thick makeup. For a moment their eyes meet, bright blue staring into his dark black. And he realises. She's a girl!

He hesitates and in that moment it's over. She's around the edge of his blade, bringing her weapon down on his sword hand. It's not a blade but it hurts enough to force him to loosen his grip while she retches the sword away with her other hand, throwing it away. She twists his arm up his back while sweeping his legs out from under him forcing Jon to the ground with a thud.

She ties up his arms and puts something over his eyes. He cannot see him but Jon hears Sokka. "Or we could stay a while..."

It's over quickly, as Jon has heard most ambushes are. They were unprepared even if they weren't out numbered. Aang and Katara aren't really fighters. From what Jon had heard Sokka had no proper training and Jon was still as green as summer grass.

However Jon didn't think that their attackers expected to be ambushed themselves.

Jon doesn't hear him. He doesn't make a sound, never makes a sound with something covering his eyes he doesn't see him either. The first he knows he's there is when he hears one of the girls scream.

"Aahh!" A mix of pain, fear and surprise. He hears the others speaking.

"Get it of her!"

"Where did it come from?!"

The struggle goes on for a while. He hears screaming and crying. The thudding blows against a body. Yelled commands but never a sound from Ghost. Not a growl, snarl or bark.

Finally it quiets. "We got it! We got it! The mouths tied shut and its legs are tied up. It's okay" Jon hears Ghost struggling in the sand against his bonds. From the girls he heard exhausted breaths and pained sobbing.

"Is Ila okay?" Voice thick with worry.

"It bit her arm and leg. She's bleeding a lot!" This voice sounding on the verge of tears

"You help her back to the village. Get her to a healer first. After that tell the others to come back here to help bring the prisoners back to the village. Ekta, you stay with me to help guard the prisoners."

With that he heard the crying grow more distant as she slowly walked away on an injured leg. Aang, Katara and Sokka had heard everything as well but for now they said nothing. They waited with nothing but the sound of the wind and sea.


	5. A Warm Welcome

Their journey up the path had been a short one but not without its difficulties. With arms bound and eyes covered Jon had tried to place his steps carefully, lest he fall. That had been difficult however as one of their captures had kept a hand gripped to the back of his collar, pushing him if they thought he moved too slowly. Finally they stopped their march and Jon was pushed back against something large, round and wooden, to smooth to be a tree. With that another length of rope was lashed around him, tying him to it. His sword had been knocked from his hand and they had taken the dagger he wore on his belt at the start of their march. Jon had not heard a word from the others but he had heard more footsteps as he was lead here. He could only hope they were with him.

"You four have some explaining to do." A new voice called from the darkness. It was the voice of a man.

"And if you don't answer all our questions, we're throwing you back in the water with the unagi." This voice Jon knew. He had heard on the beach yelling out commands, it was one of the warrior women that had captured them.

"Show yourselves!" Sokka's angry yell was loud in Jon's ear, letting him know that they were with him or Sokka was at least. Suddenly the blindfold was ripped from his eyes, Jon glanced left and right, he saw Aang to his left and Sokka was to his right, Katara was on Sokka's other side. All of them where tied to the same pole, Momo had been trapped in a bag, his poking out, and left at their feet but Jon saw no sign of Ghost. _Where is he?_

Jon looked ahead and saw they were in a small village, two rows of wooden buildings facing each other as they rose up the gentle slope of a hill and at the far end stood a larger building, separate from the others. A crowd of people had also gathered to come look at the intruders. Closest to them was, who Jon could only assume, their leader. He was a stout man with grey hair. He had a thick beard and while he was balding at the front of his head he had more than enough hair to tie up into a large knot on top of it. He was dressed in blue robes with what looked to be a sheepskin shawls over his shoulders.

By his side stood five of the warrior women that had ambushed them on the beach. All wore the same dress, green with large sections of black armour padding and spots of gold thread here and there. The make-up they wore was white as fresh snow with blood red lips as well as deep red strokes above the eyes. On their belts they kept their weapons, which to Jon's surprise appeared to be fans.

Jon forgot the weapons for a moment and turned his attention to the warrior's faces. The make-up made them look the same at first glance but when Jon looked closer he saw her. Standing closest to the village leader was the girl he had fought on the beach. She had auburn hair and bright blue eyes. She did not look at him alone, instead casting her gaze across all of the prisoners. He looked at their arms as well, the one Ghost had bitten was not there but that was no surprise.

It was the girl Jon had fought that stepped forward first. "You trespass on are island and then that animal attacks one of the other warriors. There are no wolves on the island, so I bet you brought him with you. Now tell us, who are you and what are you doing here?"

Jon opened his mouth to ask after Ghost but before he could Aang was apologising. "It's my fault. I'm sorry we came here. I wanted to ride the elephant koi." It was the truth but the village leader seemed doubtful.

"How do we know you're not Fire Nation spies? Kyoshi stayed out of the war so far. And we intend to keep it that way!" He raised his voice, pointing an accusing finger at Aang. Jon knew that this could mean the end of them but he could think of nothing to say himself that might free them from this predicament. He was still new to this world and despite knowing of this war he knew less than nothing of the details. Jon had to count on one of the others to think of a way to save them.

"This island is named for Kyoshi?" Aang asked, his voice a mixture of surprise and interest. "I know Kyoshi!" He declared.

That did not seem to appease the village leader. "Ha! How could you possibly know her?" He gesture above their heads to the top of the pole they were tied too. Jon strained to see what it was. Though he could not see it clearly he could tell it was a statue. A statue of Kyoshi no doubt. "Avatar Kyoshi was born here four hundred years ago. She's been dead for centuries." An Avatar? Suddenly Jon realised what Aang meant.

As soon as he had realized it Aang had spoken. "I know her because I'm the Avatar."

However far from putting the villagers at ease, Aang's words seemed only to anger them. "That's impossible!" The warrior girl declared. "The last Avatar was an airbender who disappeared a hundred years ago." She shook her fist in anger.

"It's true." Jon told them. It may have been the truth but it would be difficult to swallow with words alone. "Allow him the chance to prove it." Jon insisted.

"Aang, do some airbending!" Katara told the young Avatar from the other side of the pole. With that Aang broke free from his bonds with ease, however Jon and the Water Tribe siblings remained tied to the pole. The young airbender leaped into the air out of Jon's sight only for a moment, before drifting back into sight, down towards the ground.

The crowd was a mix of the shocked and amazed. 'Oohs' and 'Aahs' could be heard all around while the warriors stared at the young Avatar in shock. The leader of the village manged to stutter out a response. "It's true... you are the Avatar!"

Jon thought freedom would come next however Aang held everyone's attention. "Now... check this out!" Pulling two marbles out from the inside of his shirt the boy span the toys between his hands using his airbending. Jon had seen this before when Aang had tried to show Katara the same trick while they had been flying on Appa earlier this morning. She had been too busy with sewing to pay it much mind but Jon had thought it quite impressive. The villagers reactions, however where far less restrained than his own. They whooped and cheered, clapped wildly, jumped up and down. One man screamed at the top of his lungs, throwing his hands into the air as if he was possessed and began spewing up foam from his mouth before he collapsed face first into the dirt.

_Gods know what they'd do if they saw him gliding._ Jon thought.

After a moment other villagers hurried over to untie the Avatars friends. Jon rubbed his wrists where the rope had chafed the skin before walking over to join the other with Aang and the village leader, who revealed his name to be Oyagi. Once the proper introductions where made, for it was nothing but apologies back and forth. Oyagi apologised for their capture, Aang apologised for trespassing and Jon apologised for Ghost attacking one of the warriors before he asked after the dire wolf.

Oyagi was forgiving of Ghost if only because Jon travelled with the Avatar but ordered that Ghost not be allowed to wonder free around the village, which Jon agreed too. The warriors had left him down on the beach where they had captured Jon and the others. The wolf's legs had been tied up with rope as were his jaws but the girls had been too fearful to even attempt to carry him back to the village. One of the warriors lead him back down the path to the beach while Oyagi showed Aang, Katara and Sokka to where they would be staying for the night, as he had insisted they do so as way of an apology, which Aang had heartily agreed to.

It was an easier walk back down to the beach now that he could see the path before him. When he arrived on the beach he saw that Ghost was being guarded by two more Kyoshi warriors, one of which held the sword that had been knocked from his hand, but neither dared stand to close to the direwolf even if he was bound in rope.

Once Ghost was free and Jon's sword and dagger where returned to him he made his way back to the village. They would be staying in the great hall that sat atop the hill, looking over the rest of the village. It was a large building wide, and tall, with four floors and a large sloping roof that forced each floor above to be narrower than the one below it. Tonight would be the first time he had slept under a roof since he entered this world and it was something he would be glad of. The only things that Jon had brought with him to this world where the clothes on his back, the weapons on his belt, Ghost and the torch Roku had handed to him. This meant that unlike the others he had no change of clothes and no sleeping bag or tent. He had taken to sleeping with his cloak over him a blanket or when the wind was up, a crude tent. Sleeping like this did not seem to sit well with his companions, so Katara had promised him she would try and find some things at the next village they stopped at. Jon looked around at the shops and stalls dotted around the village, perhaps Kyoshi could provide.

Of course sleeping under a roof would also prevent any arguments about keeping watch during the night. Jon shook his head at the mere thought of it.

During his first night in this new world, after realising he had no sleeping bag, Jon had offered to take first watch for the night. In truth Jon had not thought he would be able to sleep at all, his mind still clouded with all that had happened to him that day. But then they had given him a bewildered look.

"Watching for what?" Aang asked with his head tilted slightly in confusion.

Jon had given them an equally bewildered look in return. "For anyone approaching." He said.

"But… there's no one else out here?" Aang was looking out across the dull, rocky hills that would host their campsite that evening, seemingly unable to understand Jon's meaning.

Sokka had agreed with Aang. "Yeah, we're in the middle of nowhere. Who are we going to run into?"

Brigades or bandits, enemy soldiers. They had said there was a war after all. Jon had been completely taken aback by their recklessness. Aang, perhaps, he could have forgiven for his naivety but Sokka had seemed the most cautious of the group back at the Air Temple yet he dismissed the idea of keeping watch during the night!

Before Jon could answer Sokka, Katara spoke to him. "Just because you don't have a sleeping bag doesn't mean you have to keep watch all night, Jon" She told him softly, as if trying to reassure him, while completely missing the point he was trying to make.

"We would take the watch in turns." He had told her.

This news had not pleased Sokka. "What? I'm not missing out on my sleep just because you're scared of the dark!"

Jon had nearly hit Sokka that night and every time Jon brought up the idea of keeping watch, it sparked an argument. So Jon would be glad to avoid it, at least for tonight.

But for now sunset was still some time away and there was something Jon needed to do. He would have to put Ghost in the room first and after that there was someone he needed to speak with.

* * *

Iroh gave a soft sigh of relief as he sat down at the table. The smell of dinner wafting into the room increasing his already ravenous appetite. The old general would not deny he had fondness for food, people would only have to look down at his belly to know that, but tonight was a little different. He had not eaten for most of the day, having decided to wait until later in the evening for the sake of his nephew.

He looked across the table at his troubled nephew. His drive to find the Avatar and return home had always been great but since his encounter with him at the South Pole, it had only grown more intense. The young prince had gone without sleep more than once and, just like today, put off eating in exchange for training or following up a lead on the Avatar.

He had been encouraging his nephew all day to stop and eat something, deciding himself that he would wait for his own dinner so Zuko would not have to eat alone.

Finally the cook entered the room carrying a large, cooked fish fresh from the oven. He knelt down to place the meal in the middle of the table. "Your dinner, prince Zuko." The cook said with practiced politeness. Zuko barely acknowledged the man, glancing at his face before turning his attention back to the table. Iroh thought the cook would just leave but instead he spoke. "Excuse me prince Zuko but I have heard from a merchant on the docks that the Avatar is on Kyoshi Island."

Zuko leapt to his feet and began shouting. "The Avatar's on Kyoshi Island?" The cook gave a weak nod. His nephew stormed around the table. "Uncle, ready the rhinos. He's not getting away from me this time." He ordered as he marched out of the door.

Iroh sighed internally. So much for getting him to eat. He thought. Perhaps one more reminder would encourage his nephew to eat. "Are you going to finish that?" He called out to the young prince.

Zuko stomped back into the room, however rather than sitting down for a meal like Iroh had hoped he snatched their dinner up from the table. "I was going to save it for later!" He yelled before storming out again.

Iroh crossed his arms while grumbling in annoyance. It appeared he would have to wait a while longer for a meal.

* * *

Another of the serving women entered carrying another tray and placed it on the table, bringing the total to eighteen. They held food meant for Aang, Katara, Sokka and Himself to break their fast on. Some were covered in sweet, hot breads stuffed with fruit and berries, others tarts filled with red jam, while the rest held all manner of other sweet things. The sort that had been denied to him as a bastard back in Winterfell, those where things meant for trueborn children. However that was something he did not truly mind, for the few times he had tried such things he had found them much too sweet.

It was the same in this world as well. Jon had tried a bite of this and a taste of that and found himself liking none of it. One of the servers had thrown Ghost a large piece of fish that the direwolf had devoured in two bites. Jon had thought to ask after a slice of that but was unsure that he should insist upon their hosts.

Aang seemed to enjoy the food however as he eagerly ate what was put in front of him. "All right! Dessert for breakfast!" He cheered through a mouth stuffed with food. "These people sure know how to treat an Avatar!"

Jon knew the truth of that. The village had been overjoyed with Aang's arrival, not just by giving them all a place to sleep and the feast laid out before him but Jon could also see from looking out the window that the villagers where repairing the statue of Avatar Kyoshi in honour of Aang. He also knew that if he stood and looked out of the window he would see Appa below, being groomed and feed by enthusiastic villagers.

"Mmm... Katara you've got to try these!" Aang offered Katara one of the cakes.

"Well, maybe just a bite..." She took it hesitantly from his left hand while Momo snatched another from his right.

It was then that the airbender took notice of the other member of their group. "Sokka, what's your problem? EAT!" He insisted.

Jon looked at the water tribe boy. He sat hunched and glowering in the corner of the room. "Not hungry." He grumbled.

"But you're always hungry!" Aang protested.

Sokka had been like this all last night as well. Barely saying a word to any of them. Jon had a suspicion of what was wrong and then Katara made him certain.

"He's just upset because a bunch of girls kicked his butt yesterday." She said smugly.

"They snuck up on me!" Sokka protested.

"Right." Katara agreed. "And then they kicked your butt."

Sokka stood up angrily. "Sneak attacks don't count!" He insisted. He paced around the room, gesticulating wildly to the air. "Besides, I've been out of practice! I don't have any one to spar with." He pretend as if he was wielding a sword, making exaggerated parries and strikes against an invisible opponent. He stopped suddenly, pointing at Aang and Katara. "You two don't know how." He pointed at Jon. "And he refuses to practice with me."

"We have nothing to practice with." Jon told him plainly.

Sokka ran his hands through his hair, grimacing. "You have a sword!" Throwing his hands down in frustration.

"Mine has an edge to it. So do your weapons." Jon was not so foolish as to practice with live steel. They needed a practice sword, made of wood or a steel one with a blunt edge.

Sokka, however, did not see the sense in that. He returned to his grumbling, muttering under his breath about being beaten by girls. The water tribe boy walked to the door before turning back and snatching up an arm full of food from the table. It was then that he finally left, swallowing down mouthfuls of food despite his anger.

"Should one of us go with him?" Jon asked the others at the table.

"He'll be fine." Katara assured him. "Are you okay? You don't seem to be eating much."

Jon looked down at the small collection of nibbled food that was placed in front of him. "I don't have much of a taste for sweet foods."

"Well, as long as you're okay. I'll keep that in mind when I'm getting the supplies together." She told him with a hint of concern.

"It's okay Katara. We can just ask the villagers to give Jon something different." Aang suggested. "I don't think they'd mind."

"I don't think we should get to comfortable. It's risky for us to stay in one place for very long." Katara had the right of it, Jon knew. They were still a long way from the North Pole and it was for the best that they continued on their journey soon.

Aang did not seem troubled, however. "I'm sure we'll be fine. Besides, did you see how happy I'm making this town?" He gazed out of the window at the statue of Avatar Kyoshi. "They're even cleaning up that statue in my honour!"

Jon agreed that the village did truly enjoy Aang's presence. Though he also thought that they would enjoy an end to the war.

Katara pushed the matter no further. "Well, it's nice to see you excited about being the Avatar. I just hope it doesn't all go to your head." She warned.

Aang did not seem at all concerned. "Come on, you know me better than that. I'm just a simple monk." He assured them both. He stood and went to the window. As soon as he did the sound of screams and giggles rose up from below.

Jon and Katara both stood to see what was causing the commotion. Moving around the table and looking out of the window Jon saw the source of the noise. A crowd of young girls had gathered below the window waiting for the Avatar and at the sight of Aang they had begun to cheer. Aang gave them all a large smile as he began to blush. Katara was less impressed, standing just behind Aang, she crossed her arms and sticking out her tongue.

After breakfast their group spent most of their time apart. Jon had not seen a glimpse of Sokka since he had stormed out. He began to wonder if he should have went with the older boy to make sure he was alright but then again Katara did not seem concerned so perhaps it was nothing.

Aang had left in the company of the same crowd of girls that had been waiting for him. He had taken Momo with him, showing the small creature to all of the young girls. Jon had caught sight of Aang from time to time, going this way or that way across the village or showing of his airbending to his adoring crowd.

Jon however, had gone with Katara to the market to help with the buying of supplies. He had done so because Katara had pointed out that she would need help carrying it all back to the room… and that most of their money was going towards buying Jon new clothes and a sleeping bag. He was forced to leave Ghost behind in the room. The direwolf had made to follow him when he first left the room but Jon halted him, scratched his snout and told him firmly to "Stay!"

The two of them wondered the market for some time. The sky was clear and sunny but snow still lay on the ground in some places. The market was small but it appeared that Kyoshi made fair trade. A sleeping bag was found quickly and had wide variety of foods for sale. The cloths proved more of a problem. There was little to choose from that both fit him and that they were able to afford. It seemed that he would be stuck in the same dusty clothes for a while longer.

As they walked Jon took in the sights around him. Kyoshi was the first village Jon had visited since arriving in this world, with its people being the first he had met aside from Aang, Sokka and Katara. Even though the village was not as grand as the Air Temple he felt a sort of wonder in being here, plain though it was. _Arya would love it here._ He thought as he gazed at the freshly painted statue of Kyoshi. Jon knew that his little sister would wish to be a Kyoshi warrior the moment she laid eyes on them, no doubt. She would adore the animals too, as much as Aang did. She would want to be a bender as well, Jon knew, and woe to anyone who tried to tell her she couldn't become one. A small, sad smile appeared on his lips for a moment. He wished she was here with him now.

"What are you smiling about?" Katara's voice woke him from his thoughts. The smile dropped from his face, his usual sullen look returning in an instant.

Jon looked and found himself standing in front of another stall next to Katara. She held a large basket that she had begun to fill with vegetables from the stall.

"I was thinking." He told her.

"What were you thinking about?" She asked with friendly curiosity.

"My sister, Arya."

Katara seemed taken aback by that. "I didn't know you had a sister. I guess I don't really know that much about. None of us really do." She remarked thoughtfully.

"You've not known me very long." He assured her but she decide in that moment that she would learn what she could now.

"So, do you have any other siblings?" Katara asked sweetly as she packed some green storks into the basket.

Jon nodded. "Aye, five. My brother Robb, Then Sansa, she's the eldest sister. There's Arya herself. After that there's my brother, Bran. Baby Rickon, he's only three."

Katara gave him a warm smile as they moved on to the next shop. "You must miss them." She said softly.

"I do." He thought of them all often. Before he went to sleep and when he woke up, even Sansa who had only ever called him 'Half-brother' since she had learnt what 'Bastard' meant. "But I said my goodbye's when I left for Castle Black." He tried to ignore the lump in his throat.

She must have sensed his sadness because she to ask another question. "Any other members of the Snow family?"

"Stark." He told her swiftly. She looked at him in confusion and he realized what he'd done. Soon after arriving in this world he'd realized that they did not know what the name Snow meant. He saw it as a chance to be free of his greatest shame. He wouldn't claim to be a Stark or some high lord, he would just say nothing of being a bastard. That's all. Not a lie, just saying nothing of it. But now he had.

"What do you mean 'Stark'?" She asked. "Isn't your name last name Snow?"

Jon steeled himself for what was to come. Standing straight and bracing himself. "It is." He told her. "Stark is my father's name and my brother's and my sister's but not mine."

She looked utterly confused. "Okay but why?"

He decided he would just say it let her judge him as she wished, Aang and Sokka could do the same. "Because I'm his bastard son."

He had prepared himself for it but even so the look of horror and disgust on her face hurt him. "That's disgusting!" She spat. "Don't say things like that."

"It's the truth." He gritted his teeth to hold back the hurt. Katara had been the kindest to him, now she looked at him in horror "You can speak with the other over whether you wish for me to keep traveling with you."

"Why would we do that?" That she yelled at him.

"From my experience most folk do not enjoy the company of bastards."

A second look of horror past over her face but this time not directed at him. "NO, NO. I didn't mean… I wasn't talking about… I'm not mad because you're a bast… not that I'm calling you a… I know you called yourself one but…" She stopped her babbling and took a breath. "Jon. I don't have a problem with you being… illegitimate. You just can't say the… b word. Okay"

Jon felt suddenly confused. "So you don't have any quarrels with me being a basta-"

"No I don't." She cut him off before he could finish. "And neither will Sokka or Aang. You just have to use a different word instead."

"I've heard all the words." He said sourly. Katara winced at that.

"I guess this was a big problem for you in the other world, huh?" She asked him softly.

Jon looked away. "The greatest shame of my life." He felt something warm wrap itself around his chest. Katara was hugging him. Tentatively he returned it. Very few people had hugged him before.

"It's okay Jon. It doesn't matter anymore." She told him softly.

"No." There was a reason he had said nothing of it to them. "It matters to me."


	6. Meeting the Enemy

Jon allowed himself to linger in the hug for a moment before stepping free of it. He felt a rush of shame and embarrassment. For lying to them. For being a bastard. He glanced back at Katara who was looking back at him with her bright, blue eyes.

She took a step closer to him, moving past the basket she had placed on the floor when she hugged him. "Jon, I promise it will be okay." She said, placing a hand on his shoulder.

_You can't be certain of that._ He thought. Though Katara, Sokka and Aang may not care about his bastardy others might. The name Snow may mean nothing in this world but that doesn't mean his bastardy would be accepted everywhere. "I'm sorry that I lied to you." He told her solemnly. He'd been stupid to try and hide from who he was.

Katara looked as if she was about to say something else to try and reassure him but she was interrupted before she could.

"Um, are you guys okay?" An uncertain voice asked from behind Katara.

Jon looked to see Aang standing behind the Water tribe girl. Katara turned so she could face the young Avatar, her hand dropping from his shoulder. "We're fine. We were just talking about something." She assured Aang.

Jon moved to stand by Katara's side. Aang looked back and forth between the two of them, still seemingly uncertain. "Well, I was wondering if you both wanted to come with me and the girls. I promised them a ride on Appa. It'll be fun!" He told them both, speaking more cheerfully.

As much as Jon did enjoy flying, at the moment he was in no mood to do so. "No, thank you Aang." Jon reached down and picked up the supplies filled basket. "I'll carry this back to the room, if you wish to go with him." Jon told Katara. Jon found himself hoping that she would. He did not want to continue the discussion of his bastardy any further and though Katara would undoubtedly mean well, her reassurances would not be that reassuring.

Unfortunately Katara did not wish to go either. "Watching you show off for a bunch of girls does not sound like fun." She told Aang, irritated at the very thought of it.

Jon looked towards the statue of Kyoshi, behind Aang. Around its base stood the same group of girls that had been following Aang all day. They were all waiting impatiently for young monk to return.

"Well, what you and Jon have been doing doesn't seem like fun." Aang argued.

"We've been collecting supplies for our trip. I told you, we have to leave Kyoshi soon." Katara replied.

"I don't want to leave Kyoshi yet." Aang said mournfully. "I can't put my finger on it, but there's something I really like about this place." He put one hand under his chin in thought as one of his admires called out to him.

"What's taking you so long, Aangy?" The voice belonged to a small girl who stood at the front of the crowd of girls. She stood with her hands on her hips and stomped her foot in annoyance.

"Aangy?" Katara questioned flatly.

Aang was about to turn to answer the girl when Jon spoke up. "Aang, we have what we need. We must leave." He told the younger boy. Jon understood why the Aang would wish to stay on Kyoshi but he was the Avatar and from what Jon had been told of it that meant he had duties.

Aang, however, did not seem to realise this. "We don't have to leave yet." The boy insisted. "Oyagi won't mind if we stay a little longer."

"That's not the point Aang." Katara said sternly. "I thought you promised me that this Avatar stuff wouldn't go to your head."

"It didn't." Again replied, though it was clear to Jon it most certainly had. "You know what I think? You just don't want to come because you're jealous." Aang replied with a smug certainty.

"Jealous? Of what?" Katara asked, angry at the very suggestion.

"Jealous that we're having so much fun without you." Aang stepped back out of Katara's way as she busied herself by snatching up some vegetables from the stall that they were in front of.

"That's ridiculous." Katara said as she shoved the vegetables into the basket Jon was carrying, nearly knocking it out of his hands.

"It is a little ridiculous, but I understand." Aang said sweetly.

Anger flashed across Katara's face as she stared at Aang, she groaned in frustration before turning and walking back to the room.

Jon would have said something to Aang but before he could some of the girls from the group came and dragged him off, having grown tired of waiting. They were gone before he could say anything and he would not chase Aang around while he was still carrying the basket. _He won't go far._ Jon assured himself as he began his walk back to their room. They did not have to leave at that very moment, they still had to pack everything away and find Sokka. Once Aang returned with Appa Jon would convince him that they must leave or at least that's what he hoped.

When Jon returned to the room he was greeted by an eager Ghost, who jumped up to welcome him back. Katara meanwhile offered no greeting, she simply remained seated on the floor next to the table while she practicing her waterbending with a bowl filled with water. She drew the water up and made it move with small gestures of her hand. He had seen her practice like this before in the short time they had travelled together, yet he found it no less entrancing.

Jon walked to the low table in the middle of the room and placed the basket he was carrying and his new sleeping bag, that he had been carrying slung across his shoulder, down on the table. "I'm going to find Sokka." Jon told Katara as he stood up straight again. Katara said nothing as she continued her practice. "Will you be alright if I leave you?" He asked.

"I'll be fine." She replied with a voice of forced calm, still not looking at him. It was clear she was still upset at Aang's words.

Jon wondered if he should say anything to her but decided there was nothing he could say. It was Aang's apology that she would want to hear. He was about to leave on his search when he remembered something else that they would need for their journey. The Kyoshi likely had wooden practice swords for sparing, if he could purchase two from them he would have something for himself and Sokka to practice with. He turned back to Katara. "I need to borrow the money. There is something else that we may need." He asked.

"Sure." She said, her eyes still fixed on the water as she tossed the purse onto the table.

Jon offered Katara a goodbye and gave Ghost another quick scratch behind the ear before leaving in search of Sokka. It did not take too long. The village was small and after asking one of the villagers Jon was directed towards another building that stood away from the rest of the village, which the villager called a Dojo.

Jon crunched his way across the snow covered ground towards the low roofed building. Inside Jon saw that the two of the Kyoshi warriors where already there, practicing their technique. It was only when he grew closer that Jon saw who it was. The one leading the session was the same girl that Jon had briefly fought on the beach. She dressed in the same manner as all the other Kyoshi warriors he had seen, except she wore a small gold head piece that distinguished her as their leader. The student she was training, Jon recognised as well.

"Sokka?" Jon asked in disbelief. Jon now stood in the doorway looking at Sokka. The older boy was dressed in the exact same manner as any other Kyoshi warrior, a dark green dress and white and red make-up.

"Hey, Jon." He said in casual greeting without a hint of shame.

Jon kept staring. "What are you doing?"

"Well, Suki's been teaching me her fighting style, so I had to wear their warrior's uniform." Sokka folded up the fan he had been using as a weapon and tucked it away into his belt. "See, look." He raised his arm to show Jon. "The silk threads symbolizes brave blood and the gold insignia is the honour in a warrior's heart." Sokka spoke with great pride as he pointed out the small details.

Jon looked to the Kyoshi warrior, Suki, who was gazing at them both in amusement. "You commanded him to dress like this, my lady?" Jon asked her.

The Kyoshi warrior gave him a look of slight confusion as her smile broadened. "He wanted me to teach him, so he has to follow are traditions." She chuckled softly. "All of our traditions."

Only this morning Sokka had been bemoaning his defeat by the Kyoshi warriors and now he had humbled himself and become their willing student, even agreeing to dress as they did. Jon doubted that he would be willing to do that himself. He did not doubt that a woman could be as fine a warrior as any man and he had no qualms about being taught by a women but being put in a dress. Jon wouldn't do that.

He shook his head to clear his thoughts and remembered the reason he had come here to begin with. "Do you have any sparring swords you could spare, my lady?" Jon said, stepping in to the room from the doorway. The room was well lit with paintings, fans and weapons decorating the walls. "We'll have need to practice while we travel." He showed Suki the coin purse in a wordless offer of payment before suddenly realising that he wasn't sure how much he had. There were no gold dragons or silver stags in this world and he wasn't sure of the coinage either. He might not have enough to buy anything. Jon was quiet certain he was about to look the fool.

Luckily, Jon was saved any embarrassment. "You don't need to pay." Suki said, raising a hand in refusal of the money. "If it's to help friends of the Avatar I'm sure I can spare a couple of wooden swords."

"We only need two." He and Sokka where the only ones that would be using them.

Suki walked to a rack of weapons that hung from one of the walls. She picked up two practice swords and walked back to Jon. The swords appeared a bit smaller than he was used to and lacked a cross guard.

"Looks like you finally got those practice sword you love so much." Sokka remarked as he went back to practicing his movements.

"Here you go." Suki offered the wooden weapons to Jon.

"Thank you, my lady." He took the swords from her and examined them closer. The swords where lighter as well. They were not quite what he was use too but he supposed they would serve.

"The wolf is yours, right?" Suki spoke quiet suddenly. Jon looked up from the swords, meeting her eye. "Ila told me that you spoke to her last night." She said. "She said you came to apologise for what your wolf did."

Jon gave her a nod. "Aye. I did." He had gone to speak with Ila last night, the girl that Ghost had bitten. He'd found her with the healers, her arm and leg wrapped in clean, white bandages. Her make-up had been smeared and had run down her cheeks thanks to her tears. Jon had offered her an apology for her being wounded by Ghost but no matter how sorry he felt for her, he would not condemn the wolf for trying to protect them. She seemed to have accepted that, having told him she held no ill will against Jon himself. Though she had been irritated that she would be unable to return to the Kyoshi warriors for some time and held a clear disliking of Ghost. He wished her a swift recovery and spoke with her a short while before leaving.

"Thank you for going to apologise. It meant a lot to her." Suki spoke with sincerity. "I'd like to say sorry about yesterday as well. I didn't know that you were friends with the Avatar."

"Thank you but you were only defending your home." Jon answered.

She considered that for a moment. She glanced at the practice swords under his arm. "I was wondering. Yesterday, on the beach. You managed to draw your sword but you hesitated. Why?"

Though the truth might upset her, Jon could think of nothing else to tell her. "I did not expect you to be a woman." Her look turned sour in an instant.

"So you don't think girls can fight either?" She accused. Sokka stopped practicing and seemed ready to come to Jon's aid.

"I believe that a woman can be warrior." He assured Suki. "I was merely surprised to be facing one. It's not common thing to see in the North." Not that it was unheard of. The women of Bear Island where well known as such. There were others as well, Jon knew. Heroes from long ago, Queen Nymeria, Aegon's sister wives and dozens of others that Arya had told him of with great excitement, as she declared how she would be like each of them. He could only recall a few of their names though, which suddenly made him feel a twinge of guilt.

"The north of where?" Suki asked. It was habit that made him say it. He had never had any cause to deny where he was from, nor had he ever been in a situation where the place he was from did not exist. Rather than explain the mad truth, Sokka quickly answered for him.

"He's from Northern Water tribe." He said loudly. "He came south to visit our tribe. It's why he has that funny way of talking." Sokka explained.

Jon didn't understand how the way he spoke was 'funny' but he decided to ignore the slight, as it seemed to appease Suki.

"I was wondering about the accent and all those 'My ladies'." She offered Jon a smile. "Some advice. Even if your opponent is a girl, don't hesitate. As a warrior you must expect the unexpected and be ready to adapt."

He had been taught similar lessons by Ser Rodrick. Now all he had to do was put them into practice. Suki had been the first real opponent he had faced and he had failed. From now on he would have to train harder, be ready for whatever he would encounter on this journey. "Aye, I will. I promise you."

"Good." She stepped back a few paces. "Now I'd like to see how good you are." She drew her own weapons, two metal fans, opening them with a flick of her wrist. "Where you taught anything else or is it just swordsmanship?"

"Sword, shield and bow." He knew a how to work a crossbow and had been taught a little of the axe but he was not practiced enough in either to be worth mentioning them. Jon put one of the wooden swords down and removed his own sword belt. He felt the weight of the practice sword in his hand.

"Hey! What about me?" Sokka exclaimed.

"Keep going through the moves I showed you. If you need help just ask." Suki told him before turning her attentions back to Jon. He held the sword before him.

The two of them began quickly, Suki striking first. He blocked the attack and moved in for his own but she was gone before it landed. She tried again, striking up at his chest but he slipped away and brought his blade back between them. Jon quickly stepped around to her side and swung for her side. She moved to block with her fan but as she did Jon drew his sword back, allowing her move to miss his blade. He had his opening. Quick as a snake he thrust the point of the sword towards her. At the last moment she twisted to the side, dodging the blade while also knocking it away from her. In one swift motion she went to the floor and kicked his legs out from under him. He landed on his side with a thud.

"Not bad." Suki stood over him, offering him a hand up. The sound of soft clapping drew his attention to Sokka who had decided to watch them rather than practice. Jon took her hand and got back up.

"Thank you." Jon answered, rolling the shoulder he had landed on. He was certain it would bruise.

"That was great." Sokka told him. "I think you even managed to do a little better than I did."

"What?" Suki asked incredulously.

"Okay. He did much better than I did." Sokka relented.

Jon stood to the side as the two of them resumed their lesson. He fixed his sword belt back around his waist and carried the two practice swords under his arm. He thought to leave but decided to linger a while. He watched the two of them, how they moved. As Suki herself explained, it was a style meant to turn an opponent's strength against themselves. The idea of it was not that strange to him but her technique was something else. It was clear that the way that people fought was yet another thing that differed from his world.

This world was full of things he was unfamiliar with, styles of fighting being only one but he was heading into the mists of a war that had raged for a hundred years and he had no idea what he might face. _The Fire Nation army._ That's what they told but what that meant he did not know. What style of fighting did they use? What weapons? Something familiar like a swords and spears? Or something stranger like Suki's fans or Sokka's throwing blade? (Jon couldn't recall what the older boy had called it.) He would have to be ready for anything. Jon looked down at the swords under his arm. _I'll have to train hard._ For a moment Jon thought it was perhaps a good idea to stay on Kyoshi a while longer so that he and Sokka might train under a willing teacher but then thought better of it. _We must keeping heading north._ He would have to train as they travelled, practicing with Sokka or any others as often as he could. It would be a good idea to spar against Aang and Katara as well, to learn how to fight benders.

Jon was woke from his thought by Sokka, who had won a small victory against Suki, having managed to counter the girl and knock her down. Though Suki herself claimed she had done so on purpose to make him feel better. Regardless, Jon congratulated Sokka on his victory, thanked Suki once more and left.

The sun was beginning to set, casting long shadows across the pale, snow covered ground as Jon made his way back to the room. The village had grown quieter as the sun sunk lower in the sky. Outside the large building Appa was waiting, eating the last few bits of food that had been left for him. The Flying Bison wore his saddle on his back with all their supplies inside of it. Jon climbed up the bison's back leg and added the practice sword to the bundle of tents and sleeping bags.

Jon head back up to the room. Aang was not there, Katara was gone, only Ghost remained in the room. The direwolf leapt up again in greeting. Jon did not even have a moment to wonder where they were when a sudden scream drew him to the window. The few remaining villages that had still been outside where now in a frenzied panic as they rushed into the nearest shelter they could, trying to hide away from a group of riders that had entered the village.

Beneath the statue of Kyoshi, seven men clad in red and black armour sat upon large, horned creatures. Six of them sat two men to a mount, while the seventh had his own. The setting sun and distance left them difficult to see but the seventh man spoke loud enough for the whole village to hear. "Come out, Avatar! You can't hide from me forever!"

It seemed he would have no time to practice his skills. The war had found them.

"Ghost, with me!" Jon commanded as he bolted from the room. _Katara. Aang. Sokka. I need to find them._ He took the steps two at a time and rushed outside to see the battle had already begun. The Kyoshi warriors had managed to knock them from their mounts and where fighting them on foot.

Jon drew his sword free of its scabbard and kept moving forward towards the fighting, Ghost following at his side. He saw the attackers clearer now, some of them wielded three pronged spears and wore simple helmets that left that left their faces exposed. The others had their faces covers, the visors of their helmets fashioned into the likeness of a skull. They seemed to have no weapons at all, until he saw one of them create a blast of fire from his hand.

No foe came to face him as he approached, either they were fighting Kyoshi warriors or had broken off to search for the Avatar. A speck against the sunset caught his eye, flying through the air towards the village. _Aang._ He was heading towards the statue of Avatar Kyoshi where the leader of the attackers was facing three of the Kyoshi warriors alone. Jon was about to run to meet him when a yell came from behind him.

Jon spun quick enough to knock the point of the striking spear away from him. The Fire Nation soldier lunged for him again, this time he dodged the strike and rushed inside the spearman's reach. Jon slashed up at the soldier's unarmoured face. The blow hit with a crunch as it cut its way through, his blade came free and the man fell.

He did not linger, instead he turned from the dead man and raced towards Aang, who was now fighting the leader of the attackers. The Fire Nation attacker had just struck Aang's staff from his hands when Jon swung at him. He saw the attack coming and pivoted out of the way before countering with a blast of fire.

Jon choked down a scream as the fires burnt his arm and sent his sword flying from his grasp. His attacker wore red and black armour similar to the other Fire Nation soldiers but he wore no helmet. Without his helmet Jon was able to see that his head was shaved nearly bald except for a pony tail of black hair. His face was set into a scowl but his most prominent feature was savage scar over his left eye that had consumed a quarter of his face. It was truly terrible but Jon had seen worse. He only got to see it for a moment before a gust of wind as stronger than a storm sent him crashing into one of the houses.

"Jon, are you okay?" Aang threw down the two metal fans he had been using and rushed over to Jon.

He clutched his burnt arm close to his chest. The fire had burnt his hand and half way up his forearm, leaving behind angry red flesh. His arm was trembling from the agony.

Aang stared at the wound in horror before used his airbending to pick up his fallen staff. "We need to find the others."

Jon stumbled to where his sword had landed. Dirt clung to the blood that covered the tip of the blade while the hilt was left scorched and smouldering. He kicked some snow over it to quench the flames. "Then go." He choked out as he clumsily picked his burnt weapon up with his left hand.

"But I can't leave you alone!" Aang insisted. The airbender rushed to Jon's side and opening his gliders wings. "Hold on."

With his sword arm injured Jon knew he had little hope of defending himself. Relenting he struggled to put his sword back into its scabbard before putting his left arm around Aang's shoulder. "Ghost, follow." He called as a sudden rush of wind carried the two of them into the air.

Jon looked back to see that the direwolf was indeed following them from the ground. The glider flew through the air swiftly, only somewhat slowed by his extra weight. Below them the fighting continued. Fires had broken out across many of the building leaving them as crumbling ruins. Jon looked up to see that Aang was also looking down at the misery below, a look of grief on his face. Jon gave a sharp hiss as the cold wind cut into his fresh wounds. Aang looked back at him, his sadness deepened as he stared at his burned arm.

They landed near Katara as she ushered a group of young girls into a building. "Get inside." She told gently. She turned and gasped in shock at the sight of Jon's arm. "Jon, your hand!" She moved to examine the wound but dared not touch it.

"This is all my fault." Aang said sorrowfully

"It's not your fault." Katara assured Aang, looking away from the injured arm.

"Yes, it is. These people got their town destroyed, Jon got his arm burned, trying to protect me!"

"Then let's get out of here." Katara suggested.

"No!" He yelled sharply. Jon wouldn't run and abandon these people, he was no craven. "We can't just leave! We have to fight! We have to help them!" The pain from his arm made him angrier than he should have been.

"You're hurt. You can't fight." Katara told softly but sternly, like a mother to a child. "I know it feels wrong to run, but I think it's the only way." She explained to both of them. "If we leave Kyoshi, Zuko will follow us."

Aang was not happy about this plan either but was sad rather than angry. "I'll call Appa." He said while hanging his head.

Ghost arrived just before Appa did, having made his way through the fighting and fire without a scratch. Katara and Aang helped both him and Ghost climb quickly into Appa's saddle. They made a quick stop to pick up Sokka and Momo before flying out over the bay.

Jon looked back at the burning village. It seemed that Katara was correct as he could see the soldiers leaving the village to give chase to the fleeing Avatar with their ship. _At least some of the village will be saved._ Fires where still burning but at least no new ones where being started.

Katara began tending to his wounded arm. Sokka, still wearing the Kyoshi uniform but his face now clear of make-up, winced at the sight of it.

Aang sat holding the bison's reigns, his head hanging down, clearly upset. Katara tried to reassure him. "I know it's hard, but you did the right thing. Zuko would have destroyed the whole place if we had stayed. They're going to be okay, Aang."

Without a word, Aang suddenly dived off Appa's head down towards the bay.

"What are you doing?!" Katara called out in sudden panic.

"Aang?!" Jon threw himself against the side of the saddle to try and grab the falling boy with his good hand, ignoring the screaming agony from his right hand as he did so. It was a futile gesture. Aang had already fallen way beyond his reach.

The three of them all watched in horror as Aang disappeared below the surface of the water. A stillness lasted for a few seconds before a huge beast erupted from the water. Dread gripped his heart. _The Unagi._

The creature was huge, rivalling the dragons of Valyria in size. It looked like an eel with its long serpentine body, coloured black and grey. A large, spiny fin sat at the back of its head. Aang clung to the Unagi's two whiskers before landing atop its head and pulling back, forcing the creature to fire a huge stream of water into the air which came back down as a heavy rain. The rain covered the village, extinguishing the fires. Jon had seen a few things in this new world he couldn't even have imagined, this one left him utterly speechless.

Appa circled around to catch Aang between his feet as the airbender leapt from the Unagi's head. He climbed back into the saddle. "I know, I know. That was stupid and dangerous."

"Yes, it was." Katara said before wrapping the younger boy in a hug.

Despite the pain Jon found himself smiling as the relief washed over him. He put his good hand on Aang's shoulder. The boy looked at him. "Never do that again." He told Aang warmly

**Author's Note:**

> I will be posting the rest of this story on this site as well as FanFiction.net.  
> As always your own opinions and ideas for the story are welcome. Let me know what you think. Anything that needs improving and if everybody seems in character.
> 
> Thanks for reading.


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